Weaponry FAQ and Early Arsenal Building Guide

March 27, 2006

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Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Weaponry FAQ and Early Armament Guide

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With an in-depth guide on arming Carl Johnson, your Grove Street OG, early in the game as well as a detailed look at the weaponry of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Version 1.0, 21 March 2005 - Typed the preliminary version of this guide with intent to submit it to GameFAQs. Conflicts between GameFAQs requirements and my computer's wherewithal to meet those requirements put this project on hold. Posted on GTAForums on 15 August 2005 with minor formatting alterations.

Version 1.1, 31 January 2006 - Finally an update, fixing some stuff, adding some things people pointed out to me as well as beginning the Early Armament section. Also adding to some of the weapon descriptions.

Version 1.2, 27 February 2006 - Added heavy weapon descriptions and added to Early Armament section, adding reference to pdescobar's uber-cool topic on frozen wanted level exploits.

Version 1.3, 16 March 2006 - Added gillies' SAM locations, general cleanup, reaffirmed promise to do melee weapons

Version 2.0, 27 March 2006 - More additions, move to new topic on GTAForums.com after an issue with space limitations in the original.

By James Fremont

GTA Forums/GameFAQs ID: Mainland Marauder

E-Mail: [email protected](otohellspambots)mail.com

Copyright 2005-2006 James P. Fremont/Mainland Marauder. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a trademark of Rockstar Games/Take Two Interactive, Copyright 2004. All weapons mentioned in this FAQ are trademarks of their respective manufacturers, as are the names of the manufacturers themselves where named. Do not reprint this FAQ without permission. If you want permission, E-mail me and I'll assess the situation. I might say yes.

If anything is missing or wrong, please PM or E-mail me on it and I'll fix it as soon as possible -- and add your credit! Make sure you tell me how you want to be credited. Some people have already done this and are credited.

Do NOT send: spam, questions that have answers somewhere in this FAQ, or meaningless stuff ('Huh-huh, you can shoot people's tires out! Huh-huh!").

I'll try to reply to everyone as soon as I can as long as it doesn't fall into the latter category.

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Table of Contents
Use number code in "Find" to find the desired information

101:	Intro
102:	Basic questions about weapons
103:	Gun descriptions and SAM links:
103A:	9mm Pistol (Standard)
103B:	9mm Pistol (Silenced)
103C:	AK-47
103D:	Combat Shotgun
103E:	Desert Eagle
103F:	M4 Carbine
103G:	Micro-SMG
103H:	Rifle
103I:	Sawn-off Shotgun
103J:	Shotgun
103K:	SMG
103L:	Sniper Rifle
103M:	TEC-9
104:	Melee Weapons Overview (coming soon)
105A:	Flamethrower
105B:	Minigun
105C:	Rocket Launchers and Heat-Seeking RPG Launchers
105D:	Cheat-free guide to: Acquiring a Rocket Launcher
106:	Guide to: Arming Yourself Early in the game

107:	Credits

107: Credits

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101: Intro

The Ballas, Vagos and other unsavory characters in this game don't really know the meaning of a fair fight, to say nothing of the cops who will shoot at you just for spray-painting graffiti. So pay attention, and you'll know what's best for what situation.

102: Basic Q&A

Q: What is the point of this guide?

A: It is twofold: I wanted to give an in-depth guide on how to basically become a one-man army early in the game, when you have limited weapon options and a lot of the mission tasks border on the menial. The game quickly shifts toward high-intensity gun warfare toward the later half of the game's first part in which you can only travel (without felony) within Los Santos and the Red County portion of the Badlands. In this first part, Ammu-Nation is not yet open to you so you pretty much have to scavenge for straps. This guide tells you how to do it and do it well. The other "point" is to give a little more detailed information on each weapon, particularly the guns.

Q: Why waste the time when there are so many walkthroughs already up on the site? When the hell did you get the game anyway? Last month? You're a punk-ass mark, fool!

A: I'm gearing this more toward people who are just picking up the game for the first time, and focusing on how to arm yourself to optimum level as soon as possible. And yes, I did get this game last month. I had to get a new PS2 first before I could play this. And furthermore, any e-mail that is non-constructive criticism will be ignored. I have too much going on to worry about stupid horsesh*t. I spent a little time doing this; you can either appreciate it or not. Your call. I write professionally and I'm used to having people see my work. You'll either get something out of it, or not. I hope you do.

(EDIT: This was written in March 2005. No, I did not just get the game as of today.)

Q: Where is (insert weapon here)?

Q: How do I get (insert weapon here).

A: Thanks to gillies and SAM, this guide now provides weapon locations. Click on the links in the weapon descriptions.

Q: What is Gangster/Hitman level?

A: One would think Carl Johnson, your character in this game, would have some gun proficiency from his years in Liberty City and back in the mean streets of South Central Los Santos, but he starts with none at the start of the game. You earn weapon proficiency points with every bullet that strikes a valid target -- mainly, people or cars. Shooting the charred remains of exploded cars does not raise your gun ability, but there is a trick you can use on cars (in the original PS2 version; gillies and pdescobar say this does not work on other formats) if you want to quickly level up: shoot a car's tire and keep shooting. It registers as a hit and the car won't blow up. This doesn't seem to work with shotguns, for some reason. If this method doesn't work, park a car in a garage, shoot it until it blows up and then close and re-open the garage to restore the car to its original condition. You can also exploit a mission with a frozen wanted level, like "Drive-Thru" (more information on this in the Early Armament section), to shoot people without having to worry about wanted levels - and boost your proficiencies. Bring some ammo.

You have three levels of proficiency in all guns except the non-assault rifles: Poor, at which you start; Gangster, an intermediate level that usually increases your aiming mobility, accuracy and fire rate (and, in the case of the ever-cool Desert Eagle, increases the damage inflicted per shot) and Hitman. Hitman, in short, makes you a killing machine with the weapon in question.

You must have 99.9 percent proficiency in a weapon to reach Hitman level. (Thanks to System Error for the correction.) Headshots on people, tire shots and gas tank shots all seem to give a little more points than a standard hit on a person or car. These values vary by weapon. The 9mm is the slowest to level up; the fastest would be the assault rifles mainly because of their rapid fire. Hitman is achieved with 999 proficiency points, which you can view by pausing, going to the Stats menu and then to Weapons. The gun currently selected will show at the top, with your current amount of proficiency points. This number is your percentage figure for the first two digits (three at Hitman with 1000) and tenths of percent as the last digit.

Q: When do I reach Gangster level with (insert weapon here)?

A: Gangster level is reached, for each gun, at these levels (thanks to AggroSk8er's masterful walkthrough guide on GameFAQs):

9mm (Standard): 10%

9mm (Silenced): 20%

AK-47: 30%

Combat Shotgun: 20%

Desert Eagle (doubles in power at Gangster level): 20%

M4: 20%

Machine Pistols (Tec-9, Micro-SMG): 10%

Sawn-off Shotgun: 20%

Shotgun: 20%

SMG (MP5): 30%

Note: These percentage values have come into question as to whether they are universal among all SA releases, from the original PS2 version to the subsequent ports and re-releases. pdescobar offers these values for his XBox version:

9mm: 4%

Silenced 9mm: 50%

Deagle: 20%

All 3 shotgun types: 20%

Machine pistols: 5%

MP5: 25%

AK47/M4: 20%

Q: I want to buy guns but I can't get into Ammu-Nation. When does it open?

A: Usually after the mission "Gray Imports," but it opened for me on my second playthrough after completing "Burning Desire" which I did after doing ALL other available missions from Sweet, Ryder, Big Smoke, OG Loc and Cesar ("High Stakes, Low-Rider" race). Note that entering Ammu-Nation at this time is contingent on starting the mission "Doberman" which is essentially a gang war and begins your ability (for that time, anyway) to wage gang warfare. Also, at this time you can only enter the store in Market, Los Santos.

There is a trick involving the jetpack cheat that you can use to access Ammu-Nation and other shops at the start of the game. Enter the code during the final segment of the opening cutscene (before CJ is thrown out of the police car) and he will be *wasted.* He'll respawn at Jefferson hospital with no cash and everything unlocked. Ammu-Nation will hold only a limited stock, with standard 9mm and shotgun, TEC-9, Micro-Uzi, grenades and armor for sale. I don't use this trick when playing through the storyline, but you can if you feel like it. Using the jetpack cheat is safe, with respect to glitches which can happen with other cheats.

103: Gun descriptions

103A: 9mm Pistol (Standard)

The most basic gun in the game is the .45-caliber M1911, nearly a century old as of today and used by the United States army as a standard-issue weapon until 1985. This semi-automatic firearm was designed by John Browning. The gun has become known as the Colt .45.

All police officers on the street carry a nine, as do drug dealers, gang members and some pedestrians. This gun tends to fall out of your favor later in the game, as it isn't very useful in missions with a lot of shooting ("Just Business," "Gray Imports" and "Reuniting the Families," to name a few). However, reaching Hitman level allows you to double-wield your nines, making it a little more viable in heated shootouts. The 9mm takes about four or five body shots to kill most people.

If you are unarmed (especially at the very first of the game) and want some heat, this definitely will do. Sneak up on a cop or a rival gang member with full health, use your fists or a melee weapon and pound away at him. He will attempt to backpedal and shoot you; try to keep hitting him to break his fire. You will likely take some shots, so don't try this at low health. Or you can take a bike or car and run over them, then take their gun. This you may have to do after getting wasted at the start of the game, and you end up at the hospital in Jefferson -- right in the heart of the Rollin Heights Ballas' turf -- with no weapons, no weapon pickups that are especially close to the area and Ammu-Nation still locked. Not exactly a favorable situation for you. If you don't want to steal a gun like this after ending up in this fix, run like hell towards your home in Grove Street, Ganton, and ignore everything in your path. There is a 9mm pickup in the northeast corner of the Grove Street cul-de-sac, and behind Emmet's building in Willowfield south of Ganton after completing the mission "Nines and AK's."

Locations:

PISTOL

103B: 9mm Pistol (Silenced)

Kill without causing a commotion -- and killing typically does so in this game -- by using a 9mm equipped with a silencer that reduces the pop of the gun to roughly the volume of a fingersnap. Great for stealth missions. Unlike the standard version, the silenced nines cannot be wielded dually. But perhaps in compensation, the silenced 9mm seems to pack a slightly bigger punch than a regular nine. Pedestrians usually run away when you open fire with a regular gat, and drivers start maniacally speeding out of the way (sometimes running you over, which is not good when you are in a shootout with cops. Being down on the ground near a cop means you're going to the station.) This might be where a silencer would be handy. Your first encounter with enemies toting these are in your first stealth mission, "Madd Dogg's Rhymes."

Pickups for this quiet killer are remarkably harder to come by than regular nines, but they can be purchased at Ammu-Nation for $600 as soon as it opens.

Locations:

SILENCED PISTOL

103C: AK-47

This Soviet-made Kalashnikov assault rifle model is 55 years old as of the time of GTA: San Andreas (1992), but this is a favorite weapon of Third World terrorists and guerrillas not only because of its ability to kill massively and quickly but for its durability and low maintenance. It can even be submerged in water, drained of liquid and then be used - making it choice arms for the Viet Cong among others during the Vietnam conflict and other instances of guerrilla warfare. Various imitations have been made of this rifle, including a Chinese version with a folding bayonet (which would have been awesome in GTA!) Its rapid, fully-automatic fire allows you to swiftly pick off oncoming attackers by cycling through the targets and pumping large amounts of lead into them. Having an assault rifle is highly recommended before starting gang wars in Los Santos (which you can do after the mission "Doberman").

The AK-47's lock-on range is only surpassed by its more rare assault counterpart, the M4, which is obtainable in only one location accessible from the start of the game. The M4 has a larger magazine but a slightly lower rate of fire than the AK. During gang wars, most third-wave enemy gang members and even some in the second wave are hauling these badasses.

Some members of the Triad gang, based in the Chinatown district of San Fierro, carry AK-47s and will attack you if you answer positively to their questions about your gang affiliation. Say no and avoid a fight if you like, or say yes and blast them and take the ammo. They are considered enemy gang members in

statistics despite your loose connection with the gang, so there are no negative repercussions for killing them outside of missions.

You may purchase AK-47s at Ammu-Nation after the completion of the mission "Mountain Cloud Boys," the first for Wu Zi Mu of the Triad gang in San Fierro, for $3500.

There is an AK-47 shooting challenge at Ammu-Nation after completing the mission "Yay-Ka-Boom-Boom" which unlocks the Desert and Las Venturas (effectively making the whole state of San Andreas freely travelable), but using the free ammo trick (entering and then exiting the shooting gallery without finishing the challenges) does not seem to give extra AK-47 ammo. It does, however, for the M4.

Locations:

103D: Combat Shotgun

Don't even bother looking for one of these until you're WELL into the game, i.e. you can access Las Venturas, you exploit a mission with a frozen wanted level, or you like cheating. This fully-automatic, Italian-made Franchi SPAS-12 is the daddy of your daddy's shotgun and even of the ever-deadly sawn-off variety can't quite match the havoc you can wreak with this sucker. The civilian version of this shotgun, designed originally for law enforcement and the military, is sold as a sport gun to loophole laws against a gat like this. It works like the standard Remington shotgun, except it's automatic and can fire seven shells before you have to reload. Dual-wield sawnoff shotguns pack more punch per fire, but you also have a pokey reload to deal with. If you're going to use a shotgun in a gang war, use this. This baby also has decent lock-on range at Hitman level and is serviceable even at longer distances - at least when compared to the other two shotguns which are really effective only at close range.

Get all 50 horseshoes in Las Venturas and this taker of poor souls will be yours outside of The Four Dragons casino. The only readily-open pickup of this is also in Las Venturas, so don't expect to find one laying around in some dark, blood-stained alley of Los Santos. You can, though, exploit a mission with a frozen wanted level (preferably Drive-Thru; see Early Armament section for more on mission exploits) get one there and come back home to reduce Ballas' brains to pavement paste if you feel so inclined. In most cases this will be the last weapon for you to level up, after you're Gangster or Hitman in everything else.

Locations:

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103E: Desert Eagle

This is the Mark XIX .50 Action Express, but holding this makes you anything but a mark. Designed in the United States by Magnum and perfected by the Israeli military, this semi-automatic, gas-powered handgun will put a high-octane hurting on the dolt who happens to be in the way of this killer. This is the standard issue gun for the agents in the movie "The Matrix," and has appeared in other video games (e.g. Counter-Strike).

This gun is unique in that it actually gets more powerful when you reach Gangster level, which can take longer to do because of the Eagle's low fire rate (especially at the Poor level) and small magazine (seven rounds). Moreover, the recoil on this bad boy makes accuracy a hope rather than an expectation when you first start using this. Start shooting some parked cars or other easy targets, preferably at the cul-de-sac in Ganton where you are less likely to attract the cops' attention while firing this big, loud thing. When one of these is fired near you, you'll know it.

At Gangster level, one hit usually kills normal people. Even at Poor, these rounds cause more damage than any gat besides a Rifle or Sniper Rifle.

Visit your friendly neighborhood Ammu-Nation for the Desert Eagle after completing "The Black Project." Or, if you'd prefer, just use the Ammu-Nation trick after picking one up on the streets. (This seems to stop working on Desert Eagle ammo later in the game for some reason. srg informs me it works when you purchase a Deagle, then try the trick.)

Spraying all 100 gang tags in Los Santos will equip some of the Grove Street Families OG's seen on the streets with Desert Eagles. Picking one off a fallen gang member of this variety will give you a whopping five shots with this gun, so enjoy as you can. Don't think about killing one for his gat, as five rounds isn't worth the respect hit and the blot on your stats, should you care about such things. Also, shooting your homies is not a good way to keep friends.

Locations:DESERT EAGLE

103F: M4

The patriot's answer to the AK, the M4 Carbine is as American as apple pie and as lethal as anything you'd want to have in your hand in a gang war. Developed by Colt (yes, makers of the Colt .45 -- the gun, not Lando's favorite malt liquor) for Uncle Sam's armed forces, this prized weapon of counter-terrorist units has awesome range and is ideal for the urban combat in which you are participating in San Andreas. There is a grenade launcher that can be mounted onto real-life M4s, but regrettably that's not in the game.

The AK-47 seems to have a slightly better fire rate in the game, but it doesn't quite match the M4's lock-on capabilities -- if you can see the target on-screen, you ought to be able to lock on with an M4 leveled up to Hitman. The M4 also has a larger magazine, with 50 rounds per clip to 30 for your typical Iraqi goat herder/Los Santos gangsta's Kalashnikov. Max out your M4 ammo either by picking one up and using the Ammu-Nation trick, or gather a bunch of AK ammo and then go find the M4. The ammo will carry over.

The M4 can be purchased for a cool $5000 at Ammu-Nation after completion of "Yay-Ka-Boom-Boom," which unlocks the Tierra Robada, Bone County and Las Venturas.

103G: Micro-SMG

This is a Mac-10 micro-Uzi, a compact handheld variant of the Israeli-made Uzi inspired by an early Czech submachine gun design. Over 90 countries use Uzis either for law enforcement or military purposes, but those people aren't the only ones on this ball of dirt with this serviceable firearm. This model began use in the 1980's.

This is probably going to be your top combat gat for the earliest stages of the game, as there is a pickup very close to CJ's house in Grove Street and some enemy gang members carry these as well. It's not that powerful -- only marginally moreso per round than the standard 9mm pistol -- but the latter weapon simply cannot compare to the Micro-Uzi's fire rate (in the ballpark of 10 rounds per second when dual-wield at Hitman level), nor can your other machine pistol option (Tec-9). Dual-wield these at Hitman level, strafe and sweep the streets clean of anything undesirable to you. A Micro-Uzi at Hitman level kills a bit faster than the MP5 in close-quarters combat if not in long lock-on ranges, so you just might have a use for this throughout the game.

These are available as pickups in a few places around San Andreas and in Ammu-Nation as soon as they open. The second phase of the Ammu-Nation challenge is done with this type of gun.

Locations:

104H: Rifle

A less powerful, cheaper version of the Sniper Rifle. This is nothing but an old-school bolt-action cowboy rifle. You do not lock on with this; it's manual aim. It's more powerful than the other guns but considerably less so than its counterpart with a handy scope, which can be picked up in the right spot in Los Santos at the start of the game. I personally don't mess with this one much; I prefer the Sniper Rifle. This is used primarily like that weapon but without the scope, so see that section.

This is available at Ammu-Nation after the completion of "Body Harvest," which is the only mission in which you will see NPC's carrying these.

System Error points out that the headshot animation is different for the rifle, as opposed to the sniper rifle. When you separate a busta from his cranium with a sniper rifle, you see the blood-gushing animation you get when you decapitate someone with a katana. With the standard rifle, it's no different than a headshot with any other gun.

Locations:

103I: Sawn-off Shotgun

Increase the spread of each shell blast with this easier-to-conceal shotgun sawed off below legal limits. This is a game in which laws are nothing but suggestions, so ignore the last part. The beauty of these sumbitches is you dual-wield them at Hitman level, and two shotgun blasts fired simultaneously at close range (roughly 50 feet to scale in the game) renders the target's survival rate pretty damn close to zero. That's the object of the game. At close range this is even more deadly than the SPAS-12 combat shotgun, but you have to reload more often. Make sure you hit, because you can only fire twice before having to reload and that takes a little while. You're a sitting duck for that small time frame, so be accurate and try to increase your proficiency points as soon as you can. With two shotguns, it also doubles your reload time to about two seconds. For this reason you might consider using the MP5 or an assault rifle in a gang war instead.

The sawn-off shotgun is the only weapon in its class that allows CJ to sprint while holding it. It is also useful for moving wrecked vehicles to garages, which is the only way to obtain some of the special proofed vehicles in System Error's guide.

Pick one up at Ammu-Nation as soon as it opens for $800. The ammo trick works, even though it's the standard shotgun in the actual challenge. Also, the ammo for conventional shotguns and the shortened variety are interchangeable.

Spray all 100 gang tags in Los Santos and then go look in the kitchen of CJ's house in Grove Street. See the Sawn-off Shotgun on the right? Take it, go out and clear whatever lane you need to go through with this prized piece of weaponry.

Locations:

103J: Shotgun

This is your daddy's shotgun, cowboy. It is the commonplace Remington pump-action 12-gauge kept in closets and under beds everywhere, waiting for the day some busta breaks into the crib. The pump-action shotgun was originally designed by John Browning, the man behind the Colt .45. Normally such a firearm holds three to seven shells at a time, but CJ won't have to reload his shotgun - he just has to pump, and shoot. The closer the target, the more damage.

In San Andreas, they're found in police cars (enter one and you get five shots) and in other places, including Ammu-Nation. This kills in one shot at close range, but has a slow fire rate. Except for the dual-wield capability of the Sawn-off Shotgun, the mechanics of this one are largely the same except there is a delay between every shot instead of every other. CJ cannot sprint with the shotgun in hand as he can with the sawn-off shotgun.

When Turf Wars are active (between the missions "Doberman" and "Green Sabre" and then after "Homecoming" in CJ's return to Los Santos, and your territory gets attacked, there will usually be two thugs packing these shotguns. Try to take them out first, because they like to stand near you and unload shells into you, causing a LOT of damage. Don't let this happen. Let it happen to other people, like when you're the one firing.

Locations:

103K: SMG (MP5)

Wanna go on a hoo-ride? Jonesin' for a Balla-blasting fix on the fly? The king of submachine guns for over a generation before the time in which GTA: San Andreas was set, the German-designed MP5 9mm -- generically labeled "SMG" in the game, which is like calling a Ferrari Testarossa a "car" -- begs you to take it along. Originally designed to beef up the border and counter-terrorist defenses for the former West Germany, and still serving SWAT units in the U.S. (in more up-to-date models), the MP5 is the most powerful drive-by weapon in San Andreas and has a lightning-fast fire rate. Watch in sadistic glee as fools consume lead (Pb on your school science lab's periodic table) and cease to metabolize as you drive off, or get out of your ride and hand them a full-metal one-way ticket to the ghetto in the sky. Either way, go home, crack open a cold one and celebrate senseless killing afterwards. It's so...gangsta.

Get all 100 gang tags in Los Santos and you will see Grove Street Families OG's carrying these SMGs. Put a couple of these good-to-know homies in a car -- preferably one of the rare bulletproof ones you can learn how to get in System Error's FAQ -- to go compel some rival gangstas to donate some blood to the sidewalk. There are only three pickups in Los Santos that I know about, but in some missions (e.g. "Just Business") and in gang wars you'll shoot it out with some guys toting these. Also, the FBI likes these gats too, and they'll show them to you if you get a five-star wanted level. It's better to have one yourself. Trust me.

The SMG can be purchased at Ammu-Nation as it opens (without cheating) for $2000. Use the trick to max out your ammo if you feel so inclined. Doing that can just let you hold down Circle when drive-bying another car until it blows up. Take plenty of MP5 ammo with you on the Vigilante missions, in case you don't want to do it the punk-ass busta way and use the well-known interior glitch. In fact, take plenty of MP5 ammo everywhere you go. You'll find use for it. Get Hitman skill with this, and it's practically as good as an assault rifle.

103L: Sniper Rifle

This appears to be inspired by the German-made Mauser rifle. It is similar what was used to assassinate President Kennedy in 1963, an Italian-made bolt-action rifle with a scope. The good folks at Rockstar allow us to get in touch with our inner Lee Harvey Oswald by giving us the ability to give an involuntary (and markedly lethal) body piercing to anyone you can see in the scope. Manually aim, and fire away. Boom. He's dead. That is, if you've gotten the hang of this incredibly useful piece.

Some missions virtually require you have a Sniper Rifle, and a good amount of ammo for it, such as "Pier 69" in San Fierro where you are on one rooftop firing across the street at targets on another rooftop across a major city thoroughfare. It's not as fast as whipping out an AK-47 or the M4 carbine and locking on to targets, but this works where the assault rifles may fail. It's also profoundly more powerful -- almost as powerful as two full clips of 9mm pistol fire.

Sniper rifles can be as effective as rockets in taking down helicopters. Yes, those evil little whirlybirds the mean cops bring after CJ when he's wreaked enough carnage to warrant three wanted stars. It takes more skill and aim, however, to take down a moving chopper via sniping. You need to aim for the center of the chopper's rotor and, if you connect, it'll come crashing down. Get yourself chased by choppers, find a place with good cover (try the parking garage in East Beach with the NRG-500's) and practice to become a menace to heli pilots everywhere.

Visit Ammu-Nation after completing "Lure" for $5000. Get all 50 snapshots in San Fierro for a 60-round pickup at the garage in Doherty. Never spend another dollar on sniper ammo again after that.

Locations:

103M: TEC-9

In this game, a poor man's Micro-Uzi; the American-made Intratec TEC-9 is Frankenstein's monster of the machine pistol family. It was inspired by a Swedish SMG design and hit the market in the mid-1980's. The U.S. government banned the TEC-9 in the form it appears in this game in 1994, as this gat has no law enforcement or military use it except in some undercover operations, and because of its low cost it is widely used by street thugs for drive-bys (for which it is often used in San Andreas.) The threaded muzzle allows for the addition of silencers, laser sights and flash suppressors, which do not appear in the game. Staying true to its submachine gun roots, pre-ban bolt-action models could easily be altered to become fully automatic and fully illegal. This added to its palatability to criminals.

This cheaply-made piece of plastic and stamped steel is semi-automatic in its default (i.e. legal) configuration and, while not as good as the other machine pistols in the game, it's better than having just a nine. It's not very accurate, though, and you may be better served getting something better as soon as you can. When it's the best you've got, though (see the mission "Da Nang Thang" in San Fierro), it's your meal ticket if you want to survive.

The real-life TEC-9 is largely considered an inferior weapon unless used with full metal jacket ammunition, which is expensive and negates the purpose of using an inexpensive gun.

Some Grove Street Families OG's on the streets carry TEC-9s, mainly after progressing to a degree in the storyline. It is available at Ammu-Nation when it opens for $300. If you wish, you can buy TEC-9 ammo cheaply and then buy an MP5, and the ammo is interchangeable.

Locations:

104: Melee weapons

Under construction, coming soon

Edited March 28, 2006 by Mainland Marauder

March 27, 2006

105: Heavy weapons

105B: Flamethrower

The term "flamethrower" to describe the device commonly known by that name is really a misnomer. It doesn't throw flames so much as it fires a jet of burning liquid, such as pressurized propane or liquid natural gas. Your neighbor's backyard gas grill is sort of like a low-powered flamethrower as the heat that cooks the food comes from the same source. With the weapon, it's much higher-powered and is basically a pyromaniac's Super Soaker.

The flamethrower as used for military purposes - and the one in San Andreas - is typically fired from a long gun with a fuel reservoir inside and a pilot flame fueled by the weapon's gas. The gas reserve is typically carried as tanks strapped across the back, although you don't see these on CJ when he's using the flamethrower. The fuel in the tanks travels through a line to the gun piece of the device, where it is fed into a reservoir and then through the pipe to the pilot light. It is then expelled forcefully toward its target. It does not have a very long range, but creates a large area effect of bright flames and dark smoke.

Modern flamethrowers are used more for agricultural purposes (not unlike its use in "Are You Going To San Fierro?") but its predecessor was designed for the German army by Richard Fiedler - the flammenwerfer - in 1901. It didn't make its combat debut until 15 years later, in World War I, notably in a pair of battles against the French and British. The Germans later used it in an attempt to quell the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, even pumping fuel out of cars for use in the flamethrowers.

Despite its fearsome power and its prospects of sending one to a rather miserable death, the flamethrower never was reliable as a direct combat weapon and was used more to clear out enemy trenches and fortifications. More conventional arms were generally used after units dug into their positions. The U.S. Marines used the M2-2 flamethrower - an updated, streamlined American version of the flammenwerfer - to clear out Japanese bunkers in World War II. This model is closer to the one found in San Andreas. The U.S. also used them in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, mostly to clear paths in foliage. The U.S. Department of Defense ceased use of flamethrowers in American military operations in 1978 due to public perception that its use is inhumane. There are no restrictions in international law against the use of fire weapons, contrary to somewhat popular belief.

As in real life, the flamethrower is cumbersome and CJ can't run with it. There is also the risk of burning to death, unless you've done the Firefighter missions to make CJ flame-proof. There are no pickups freely accessible to CJ at the beginning of the game without frozen wanted level exploits.

It is NOT illegal to own a flamethrower in most of the United States, except California - on which San Andreas is largely based, ironically - and some local jurisdictions. They are used occassionally and legally in some places for prescribed grass and brush burns. Flamethrowers seen in movies (such as "The Running Man") produce none of the spray and smoke effect of the true article.

Locations:

105B: Minigun:

GTA is one of several video game franchises to use the minigun, although it is named differentl in some other games (e.g. "chaingun" in Doom). It is a smaller, rifle-caliber Gatling gun, externally-powered and much heavier and harder to control than as portrayed in San Andreas, or by various movies (Terminator 2, the original Predator to name a couple). Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator used a minigun loaded with blanks that reduce the weight and recoil in T2. Even then, it's become part of Hollywood lore that he was the only man on the set strong enough to carry it. The minigun is much more commonly used as a fixed weapon by the U.S. armed forces (like the gunner in the helicopter in Full Metal Jacket) and depending on the branch of the military and model the minigun has different designations. The minigun as it exists today was designed by General Electric, parent company of NBC. Think about that next time you watch a "Friends" rerun. If you do, visions of Jennifer Aniston making like Tommy Vercetti on an on-set Vice City-style rampage could enter your mind.

In the game, the effect of the weight and recoil is underestimated greatly as CJ jogs (but can't run) with this cumbersome killer, holding it in place with ease as he blows apart police cars and aircraft. Pickups are hard to come by, but one of the Minigun and the other heavy weapons appears at Mike Toreno's cabin after you complete "Vertical Bird." When you do this, you can use the save point outside, save continuously and make the pickup reappear until you have all the ammo you want.

Surprisingly, the minigun is a cinch to aim in CJ's hands, no differently than the sniper rifle (sans scope). After a momentary delay after hitting and holding the fire button, rapid-firing and immensely destructive rounds shoot forth and make the target look like the plot of a bad porn movie - full of holes and hollow to the core. Get one and have some fun. Beware, you'll rack up wanted stars swiftly once the minigun massacre begins. If you have enough ammo, the police choppers will be no match for you. You have to fire a quite a bit on the Rhinos at six stars, though, if you want to destroy them.

Locations:

105C: Rocket Launcher and Heat Seeking Rocket-Propelled Grenades

One's dumb and one's smart. No, this isn't Pinky & The Brain. The "dumb" one is often used by guerrillas, terrorists and Latin American drug gangs and the "smart" one is more likely to be used by state-sponsored militaries - but not always.

Rockets have been used in warfare for a few centuries, perhaps first by the Chinese - the inventors of gunpowder - "Fire Arrows." Congreve rockets exploded over the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Ocean during the Revolutionary War. These are the rockets with the red glare immortalized in Francis Scott Key's "Star-Spangled Banner" which eventually became the U.S. national anthem. These are also the ancestors of the rockets found in San Andreas. The shoulder-mounted rocket launchers must be carefully designed to both function and prevent its user from being burned by the rocket as it fires. In the game, CJ can't be burned in this manner but can be damaged if he is too close to the explosion of the missile. He can also suffer fire damage from walking into one of the resulting fires.

The ones CJ uses seem too indescript to tell a certain model of weapon. Lone Soldier D says the standard launcher is the RPG-5. The heat-seeking RPG looks similar to the M-160 which is used to destroy recon aircraft, combat helicopters and light-armor vehicles. The "dumb" rockets in San Andreas are aimed freely like the minigun, with a box onscreen as its "crosshairs." Taking down an aircraft or land vehicle in motion takes timing, and must be aimed "in front" of its target to be successful. The heat-seeking variety is aimed the same way, but you see a "lock-on" target on any vehicle in the sights. When it shows red, fire and your rocket should hit its mark regardless of where the on-screen aim marker is. The rockets can be fired one after the other pretty quickly; you can lock on and fire twice to take down durable aircraft like the Hunters in "Up, Up and Away."

Both weapons take out most vehicles in one hit, besides the aforementioned Hunters as one notable exception. You can take out your own Hunter at Verdant Meadows in one blast, provided one spawns there because you've received all golds in pilot school. Go figure. System Error tells me the "dumb" rocket launcher packs a little more punch.

Locations (Rocket Launcher)

Locations (Heat-Seeking RPG)

105D: How to get the Rocket Launcher early in the game, cheat-free, anytime

If you want to cause some real carnage and you're near the start of the game, you can grab a Rocket Launcher well before you first get them in a mission ("Are you going to San Fierro?"). And no, it's not cheating at all. It's perfectly clean. It's also accessible from the start if you do what I do. Though you can get any heavy weapon using mission exploits, this one you can get whenever you want rockets.

There is a building in Downtown Los Santos, between Glen Park and the Inside Track Betting (see the SAM link in the Rocket Launcher section above), and this building has a large antenna on top. This antenna is likely not visible from the ground but you may see it if you base jump with a parachute off the tallest building in Los Santos which is just on the other side of the main north-south highway in the city. Next to that antenna on the rooftop is 10 (count 'em!) rockets to launch and cause fiery explosions and messy fatalities as you please. Getting them this early in the game is tricky, and it is quite plausible that you could die trying to get them. So save, get to top health and fully armored, and follow these instructions.

Go to the north fence of the airport and jump over the fence. If your CJ is not too fat, he should be able to run and jump over most any part of the perimeter fence or the booth at the entrance through which you can pass through without jumping if you have a pilot's license. Chances are, if you're reading about this with interest you do not have a pilot's license, but that doesn't matter. Trying to fly and get your pilot's license early is a waste of time and may trigger an unwanted glitch related to the Taxi oddjob. If you can't make it over, steal a car that you can jump atop, park it next to the fence, hop on the car and then over the fence. There's no reason why you can't do that, unless your CJ is as big as Big Smoke. Basically, go easy on the Cluckin' Bell if you want rockets.

Anyway, hop the fence and look for the Dodo (a small Cessna) parked just beyond that entrance, over another smaller (semi-solid) fence and some solar panels. It's unlocked, so get in, hang on and shut up. Take off, head north and to the east of Downtown, over the Glen Park area before turning around to face southward over the Mulholland Intersection area. Facing south, the building is the second to the right of Glen Park. Get in line to land on the left portion of the building (going lengthwise) and slam down square upon landing to stop the plane's movement as soon as possible. The Shamal (Learjet) that is also in the airport cannot land safely on this building, but the Dodo can. Barely. Get out and pick up the rockets. Now here's the most problematic part: you have to maneuver your plane where you have enough room to take off on the rooftop surface WITHOUT hitting the antenna, and WITHOUT hitting the elevated ledge along the perimeter of the roof. Doing either of these will royally mess up your plane, and it could blow it (and you) up. If you do this and you see your plane flaming, pound Triangle to try to bail and run like hell. Even then you're likely to get hit by the explosion as bailing from a plane isn't as instantaneous as it is from a car. This is why I told you to get full armor before doing this. It might keep you alive.

This is also why it is highly advisable to pick up a parachute before attempting this. If you don't want to try landing AND taking off on the roof, or you mess up, you might not have to die by jumping off the building (the only way down) and you WILL die if you try this without a parachute even with full health (Unless you have your health capacity maxed out and you've completed the Paramedic mission). So get a parachute. Get one on top of that huge, cylindrical building to the southwest of the rocket launcher building, so find it (you can't miss it, really) and go into the arrow to get to the top of the building. You cannot fly the Dodo to the top of this building because it's too high; you've got to do this on foot and then go to the airport to get the plane. Grab the parachute but don't jump. Go down the way you came up. Now proceed to the airport. This way if you tear up your plane (which is easy to do; the Dodo flies like crap) and you're left at the top of the building with no other way down. If that happens, get the rockets and select the parachute, then jump. Hit Circle just as you start to freefall to open the chute, or you may get splattered anyway. The building is just high enough to parachute off of it.

I've become pretty adept at landing the Dodo and taking off in it, but it takes practice. Back the wheels up to the northeast corner of the rooftop and take off, and get lifted off the roof as soon as possible. Make sure your plane's wing doesn't clip the antenna.

pdescobar points out that CJ may be able to survive a fall from this rooftop if at full health. Therefore you could simply parachute onto this building from the basejumping tower, collect the rockets and then drop down. I've tested this and it only works at max health, doubled by doing the Paramedic mission. So do the Paramedic mission early on while in Los Santos, which is not the easiest place to do it, or start learning how to fly a Dodo earlier on. Having a pilot's license gives you a parachute when you reach a certain height in a plane, but only when obtained through pilot school. And by the time you get there, you'll have easy access to rockets already.

If you have a parachute, you can also glide near the surface of the building's rooftop and hit Triangle to bail and land on it rather than actually trying to land the plane safely on the building if that is too hard for you. Don't do this from too high or you'll die, and this whole method really isn't recommended because it's rather dangerous. But if you do this, make sure to stay away from the plane wherever it blows (which could be near the antenna if it hits that). Failing to do so could result in a bloody red stain on this fine specimen of architecture, and that's just not acceptable. Also, wasted thugs don't get to keep their rocket launchers (or any other weapons), unless they're dating the nurse you won't see until you get to San Fierro. So be careful. Grab the launchers and select the parachute, then jump.

Now you have a quick way to dispose of helicopters, like those that chase you at 3+ stars or the one in the mission "Reuniting the Families," as well as drive-by cars during gang wars. Shooting down choppers is a good way to rack up more wanted stars, so use discretion. This is the only heavy weapon you can get without cheating or exploiting frozen-wanted level missions before you finish "Green Sabre," which is right after "Reuniting the Families." It also allows you to get the hang of using rockets, which you will use more extensively in later missions.

106: Early Armament Guide - Turn Carl Johnson Into A One-Man Army!

When you first get on the bike, pedal around. There likely is a drug dealer (either a black man with a black tanktop or a white man in a white Rockstar hooded sweatshirt) who has a 9mm and around $2,000 in cash on him. Pedal and hit him with the bike. He should die if you do this right. Take his gun and cash. Now you have some defense against the Ballas who are abundant in this part of the city. Proceed south then east after you pass the walkway over the tracks. You should see a fenced-in area with what appears to be a warehouse or a large garage. In an alleyway going west-east are Molotov cocktails. These are a convenient way to take out multiple enemy gangsters in a cluster and take their weapons without getting into a shootout. You can do this as desired to gain gats and money; then head to Grove Street where the "CJ" icon is. Under the bridge over Grove Street are brass knuckles close to the spinning "I" giving you information about pedestrians talking to CJ. Behind the first house on the right - you learn later it's Ryder's - there's a shovel which is a somewhat slow but powerful melee weapon. Now head out into the street and walk to the northeasternmost part of the 'hood. There's a 9mm pickup. Now if you can, get to the small basketball court in the driveway and hop to climb onto the roof of the house to the left of the basketball goal. Then hop across and climb onto the house on the other side (Sweet's). There's a TEC-9. Now climb off and head toward the flood control ditch. On a ledge under the bridge leading to the arena (obviously visible from here) is a Micro-Uzi. Keep in mind that TEC-9, Micro-Uzi and MP5 (SMG) ammo is interchangeable. You can walk over any of these weapons dropped by a dead NPC (not fixed pickup locations though) and gain extra ammo regardless of which of these three types of guns you have without picking up the one dropped. With that said, now head north to the next bridge. Under the left base is body armor. I did all this and ended up with $2,819 in cash, 58 rounds for the 9mm, 190 rounds for the Micro-SMG, full armor and health (go to the Sprunk machine in front of the bar further west on Grove Street if you need health) and nine Molotov cocktails in just seven minutes, and hardly looking for enemy gangsters to kill. This is a good start as you go into the missions.

On the second mission, "Ryder" you can pick up a shotgun off the Well Stacked Pizza clerk as he tries to chase you down. A salvo of Micro-SMG fire will do the trick - just remember that a shotgun blast at close range hurts like hell and is still harmful from midrange. Pick up the shotgun, since it's hard to come by at this point of the game. If you can steal a police car, it also gives you five shotgun rounds.

"Tagging The Turf" gives you infinite spray paint for the only time in the game, and is an ideal time to work your way around town and get all the tags. This is a key to gathering arms early. Never run out of AK ammo again, and you'll have all the Molotovs you could want. Take the TEC-9 pickup in the Johnson House and then get to Unity Station or wherever to pick up the MP5, if you want, to stock up on ammo for that key weapon. Then get it leveled up, and you have a long-range, powerful and rapid-firing piece that you can sprint with. Yes, I'm a fan of the MP5. This is usually the first weapon I end up leveling up to Hitman.

You can take or leave the baseball bat in the "Cleaning the Hood" mission. You needn't pick it up if you don't want it, and proceed. With what you should have by now, the Ballas inside are toast. Who needs a baseball bat when you've got that MP5 or an AK?

Thanks to pdescobar, you have a way to get any weapon you want early, easily, and a more fun way to level up your weapons. The key is to exploit missions with frozen wanted levels. (See his topic in Cheats and Tricks for more detailed information on all known exploitable missions.) During the first exploitable mission, "Drive-Thru," don't get in the car. You can kill, maim and destroy to your heart's content, and you can go wherever you like. Even San Fierro. Even Las Venturas. Want a combat shotgun? Go to the LVA Freight Depot and get it. Heat-seekers? Easter Bay Airport. The best thing you can do is load up on a lot of ammo for weapons you'd like to level up to Hitman, then steal a Shamal from the airport (or do it the long way and swim, whichever) and book it to Fierro. No gangsters or pedestrian cops spawn, but it's open season on civilians. Police cars drive around, but they ignore you. I leveled up my AK, pump-action shotgun and MP5 on this playthrough like that. And yes, it's more fun than shooting tires or parked cars - not to mention more sporting. As sporting as killing innocent civilians can be, anyway.

By the time you get to "Nines and AK's" and meet Emmet, he's useless and you're just going through the motions doing the mission. You might be Hitman on the 9mm by now anyway.

Keep in mind you don't really need much of the heavy weaponry early on in the game. The rockets can be useful as described above, and you might try the Minigun to waste the durable little Russian at the end of "Gray Imports." But by and large, getting these weapons is largely for the hell of it, or for getting yourself accustomed to using them earlier than you normally would if you're a new player. And if you're a new player, that's mainly who this segment of this FAQ and guide is geared toward.

107: Credits:

pdescobar for gathering information on the mission exploits and allowing me to incorporate it into this document, as well as random information and other things I appreciate highly. Plus, he lets me set up his drumkit.

gillies for the grunt work in compiling the SAM weapons location links. My tired old computer and SAM are not friends, but gillies helped reconcile the two with his contributions which gave this FAQ a new dimension of usefulness. Also, thanks to the authors and collaborators of SAM at GTANet - azkoyen, steve-m, PatrickW, Smithers, CtrlAltDel, CyQ, tagamanila and others in the GTA modding community.

System Error, srg among others who provided input and information. Thanks, guys.

The GTAForums.com staff for hosting a venue for this FAQ and guide, and putting up with its existence amongst a glut of San Andreas guides. Also, for helping me with a space limitation issue in this FAQ's previous topic (Link). Special thanks to Raindancer for fielding my requests for help on the issue.

Chase "AggroSk8er" Arnok and his GameFAQs walkthrough, for walking me through the rougher edges of what was my first experience with the GTA series.

Other MuthaFAQers on GameFAQs who have contributed knowledge about this awesome game.

Satan, for claiming ownership of my soul after my having played this bloody game.

The people who write the Wikipedia free online encyclopedia articles for some of the background information on the various guns in this game. Among other Web sources I probably should credit individually soon.

Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann, R. Lee Ermey's character in "Full Metal Jacket" for the Sniper Rifle/JFK cross-reference, and to the late Stanley Kubrick for directing that film, an all-time favorite of mine.

All of my English teachers, my high school journalism adviser and my various professional colleagues for sharpening my command of the English language so I can demonstrate to the world how video game players aren't such illiterate oafs after all.

The members of the rap group NWA -- Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E and MC Ren -- and their various spinoff projects for creating most of the playlist for the station Radio Los Santos in the game. I'm traditionally a rock/metal dude, but a game about blastin' fools has to have songs about blastin' fools, homie.

The good folks at the Gloryhole Themepark, who called me requesting to purchase ad space in this FAQ. I declined, citing this project is for family entertainment.

DJ Hans Oberlander of San Fierro Underground Radio (SF-UR) for entertaining me with his MDMA-fueled, German-accented gushings about repetitive dance music.

NO thanks to Sony Corp. and the Wal-Mart Supercenter of Alvin, Texas for selling me a PS2 that broke shortly before San Andreas came out, delaying my pickup of this masterful game until February when everyone else got to find all this stuff before me.

Thanks to Valencia, AKA Mrs. Marauder, for helping me get a new PS2 so I could play this, among countless other things worthy of my deepest and sincerest gratitude.

And finally, thanks to Rockstar and Rockstar North for making a game I have played nearly incessantly since I got it -- of course, when I'm not working. There is no better way to let off steam than blow some electronic peoples' heads off with a wide array of weaponry. And thanks to their staff, who apparently have as much of a warped and sarcastic view of the world as I do. I fully appreciate that.

Anyone else who contributed who feels left out here. PM me to remind me.

I also fully appreciate you, the GTA: San Andreas gamer, for reading this FAQ.

-30-

Edited March 28, 2006 by Mainland Marauder

March 27, 2006

Amazing work! Keep it up mate!

March 27, 2006

great work MM, I hope Gamefaqs takes it.

Nick000 rates this topic good Edited March 27, 2006 by Nick000

March 27, 2006

Yaaay Mainland!

Glad to see you got it up. Hehe, got it up.

It looks nice though dude, congrats.

March 27, 2006

Great work on v2, man!!

Let me be the first ti give you some cookies...

March 27, 2006

Excellent work, MM. You've clearly put a lot of hard work in with this, well done with it. If you add pictures of each weapon, then I think I'd like to see this pinned and 51L3N7's Weapons guide taken down, as this is clearly more thorough and detailed. Good job once again.

March 27, 2006

Yaaay Mainland!

Glad to see you got it up. Hehe, got it up.

It looks nice though dude, congrats.

He told me not to credit him in the guide, so I'm gonna do it in the topic.

Bryce made the Table of Contents look all snazzy and stuff. Thank you, Bryce.

And thanks everyone here. Any suggestions, comments, corrections, any sort of stuff, post them here or PM me. I'm glad to have it nearly finished. I'm about to finally begin work on melee and thrown weapons, and then barring any other crackpot ideas of mine it will be finished.

Also, thanks to Raindancer and the GTAForums staff for helping me toward a solution to get it up...heheh....get it up.

Here's a beer for RD c|~|

March 27, 2006

Amazing stuff. Superb. Need Pictures of the weapons though.

March 27, 2006

Great, but I'd like to point out one thing that always peeves me.

The heat-seeking launcher is not a RPG. RPG = Rocket Propelled Grenade. Rockets are unguided (Ex: FFAR's on helicopters), whilst missiles are their guided counterparts (AIM-9 Sidewinder, TOW, etc.).

The heat-seeking missile launcher itself is actually a Strela SA-7, built by the Soviets during the Cold War. Please make sure this is corrected to inform the public.

Otherwise, everything is sexy.

Oh yes, the Colt .45. Don't forget to add an "A1" on the end of the "M1911" part, and are you sure it's a Colt .45 anyway? It does look exactly like one, but the game says they are 9mm. -Cheeburger, Cheeburger!

March 27, 2006

Nice to see a new version is up and you got enough space now Mainland Marauder, sorry again about my additions wrecking your old thread.

March 27, 2006

Heh, can't believe I missed the last one. I have to say, you've put a lot of work into this, it's very detailed on each weapon and it's sure to be helpful to many people. Fantastic.

As for suggestions, all I could really suggest would be some pictures of the weapons.

March 27, 2006

I may add links to pictures. Images push you against limits in a hurry. They would have to be so small they wouldn't show much detail if I added them. Ottae's Vehicle Database got along just fine like that, so this one can too

And gillies, you gave this thing new life with the SAM links, so nothing wrong with that.

March 28, 2006

Ummm, MM, you did a great job on this but you don't have the links to the locations of the Desert Eagle on the SAM. And I don't see the M4 section. Other than that great job! Hopefully, this will get pinned. Have a

March 28, 2006

The M4 section is right below the Desert Eagle section, it doesn't have a heading right now though. Yeah the links are missing from those Desert Eagle pickup locations Mainland Marauder.

March 28, 2006

Yeah, I had to get your PM out of my email archives for the links. I had mindlessly posted the physical descriptions rather than the URL link codes when you brought the prior mistake on those to my attention.

M4 header and Desert Eagle SAM links fixed.

March 28, 2006

Nice work man, everything's looking good. I will probably use this myself the next time I want to play San Andreas, there were a lot of weapon pickups that would be a bit useful I hadn't seen before while checking the existence of all of those links.

March 28, 2006

Nice work man, everything's looking good. I will probably use this myself the next time I want to play San Andreas, there were a lot of weapon pickups that would be a bit useful I hadn't seen before while checking the existence of all of those links.

Good deal

I geared much of the guide toward the SA newbie, but I'm glad it can find use among experienced players. The links you've provided work much towards its utility for us grizzled SA vets.

March 28, 2006

Fantastic work on the guide MM. Very useful. You have put allot of handwork and time into this. Great work

March 28, 2006

After a couple days off, I see a brand new, shiny, beautiful karma star under James' name. Good work dude!

-JD

March 28, 2006

After a couple days off, I see a brand new, shiny, beautiful karma star under James' name. Good work dude!

-JD

Thanks Rain and JD. Yes, I like the twinkly But Macs...remember I'm still the same old Marauder.

I think I need to add a note about the sniper rifle that I think I added but trashed when I noticed the end of the guide missing in the old topic.

March 28, 2006

After a couple days off, I see a brand new, shiny, beautiful karma star under James' name. Good work dude!

-JD

He only deserves it dude, one of the regular guys here who's more than helpful with newbies and has useful informations to share. Plus, he does it almost everytime in some "literary" ways even when he's flaming you already Mainland, don't forget the beer please.

March 28, 2006

Thanks Loco. c|~| Drinking and discharging firearms don't mix though; that's how fatalities and Dick Cheney's quail hunting excursions happen.

quartet1977 just PMed me and brought to my attention that I had my head somewhere it shouldn't be when I wrote the minigun section. I changed the mission that frees the heavy weapon pickups at Mike Toreno's cabin to "Vertical Bird" instead of "Black Project." I'm surprised no one found that before he did, but thanks quartet.

March 29, 2006

Great work on this guide. This is really helpful.

April 9, 2006

Recently, in the kind of overkill trivia answer that makes me proud, balmung03 revived the topic of missions which alter your personal arsenal by forcing you to use a certain weapon or taking some/all of your weapons away. This was a topic previously discussed late last year by gillies, ajkhan316`, and myself.

I'm sure neither list is complete, but I'm just tossing those links here in case anyone wants to continue that discussion since this is a much better place to discuss it than the trivia thread, even if it isn't fit to be an actual part of the guide itself.

April 9, 2006

Nice one finding that old thread pdescobar.

This could be a worthwhile addition to the guide if Mainland Marauder wants to merge those lists together, it's something that I for one would have liked to know about before losing all my weapons just after getting a bunch of pickups.

April 9, 2006

Thanks pd. Actually, on my own I had toyed with the idea of compiling a list of those but laziness got the better of me (see what TMT does to me ) and I never did it. Turns out the three of you fine gentlemen did that awhile back anyway.

I think I'll find a place to incorporate that into the guide, probably near the end.

EDIT:

Mainland Marauder does a double-take

Last time I looked at the rating on this it was 57%, rather than 67%. Thanks for the love guys.

Edited April 9, 2006 by Mainland Marauder

April 9, 2006

I'm such a badass, I brought it to 68%.

We needs some cool graphics or at least some helpful pics in here. When I get my new video card, I will help out with that if you need it Mainland.

Great work, once again.

April 9, 2006

And up to 70%...and a twinkly Thank you....Konstantinos? Was that you?

And thanks Bryce. You always wanted to have that vote back, didn't ya We'll see what we can do about GFX.

April 9, 2006

Ha! I just brought it up to a nice round 70%.

This guide is pretty cool. Not much use to me, since I'm 100% through the game, but still fun to read. And a good source of information for newbies, I guess. I really like your writing style, Mainland Marauder - here are some cookies you Americans seem to be so fond of

Weaponry FAQ and Early Arsenal Building Guide

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